Central Illinois Bank's parent cuts losses in 2011

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The parent company of Central Illinois Bank narrowed its losses in 2011, but the company's president said its situation remains "challenging."

CIB Marine Bancshares reported a net loss of $5.4 million in 2011, compared with a $17.3 million loss in 2010.

According to its annual report, the company has had losses from continuing operations since 2003.

But its net loss from continuing operations in 2011 was the smallest it has been in at least four years.

"We continue to make steady progress toward returning the company to profitability, though our situation remains challenging due to the tepid economic recovery and continued weakness in local real estate markets," CIB Marine President Charles J. Ponicki said.

At the end of 2011, the company was only half the size it was four years earlier. Total assets stood at $504 million on Dec. 31, 2011, down from more than $1 billion at the end of 2007.

Today the company's banking subsidiary, CIBM Bank, has nine offices in Illinois known as Central Illinois Bank and four offices known as Marine Bank — three of them in Wisconsin and the other in Indiana.

The Marine Bank office in Champaign is part of Springfield-based Marine Bank and is not affiliated with CIB Marine Bancshares.

CIBM Bank is still operating under a consent order from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

That order, which has been in effect for several years, restricts dividend payments, specifies certain levels of capitalization and restricts the issuance of brokered deposits. Under regulatory standards, CIBM Bank is considered "adequately capitalized."

In a letter to shareholders in late March, Ponicki said CIB Marine's focus is on enhancing earnings prospects, improving credit quality and maintaining its capital position.

The company had 127 full-time employees at the end of 2011, down from 145 a year earlier when it had two additional offices.

As of March 12, CIB Marine had 1,154 shareholders. The annual shareholders' meeting is scheduled for May 24 in Milwaukee.

More Local

Comments

News-Gazette.com embraces discussion of both community and world issues. We welcome you to contribute your ideas, opinions and comments, but we ask that you avoid personal attacks, vulgarity and hate speech. We reserve the right to remove any comment at our discretion, and we will block repeat offenders' accounts. To post comments, you must first be a registered user, and your username will appear with any comment you post. Happy posting.